Blade supporter of wiper device

ABSTRACT

In a structure in which a middle portion of a wiper blade is pivoted to a leading end portion of a wiper arm via a pivot substantially orthogonal to an arm length direction so as to freely oscillate, and a supporting member supporting a portion closer to a wiper shaft than the middle portion of the wiper blade is provided in the wiper arm, the structure reduces a sliding resistance which occurs due to a movement of the wiper blade toward and away from a window surface. A stabilizer has an upper piece portion and a pair of side piece portions, a supporting concave portion supporting a wiper blade in an outward fitting manner is formed, and a plurality of ribs which extend toward the window surface are formed on inner surfaces of the side piece portions, thereby being in linear contact with outer surfaces of side piece portions of a support receiving body which is fitted to a first lever terminal end portion of the wiper blade.

This application is a national stage application of PCT/JP03/01146 filedFeb. 4, 2003 which claims priority from JP 2002-35755 filed Feb. 13,2002 and JP 2002-261942 filed Sep. 6, 2002, the disclosures of which areincorporated in their entirety herein by reference thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates to a technical field of a blade supportingapparatus in a wiper apparatus which is equipped in a vehicle such as aprivate car, a truck, a bus or the like.

2. Description of Related Art

In general, in this kind of wiper apparatus, there is a structure suchthat a wiper blade provided in a leading end portion of a wiper arm,reciprocates forward and reverse so as to wipe a window surface on thebasis of the normal and reverse rotation of a wiper shaft integrallymounted to a base end portion of the wiper arm. In this wiper apparatus,the structure is generally made such that a middle portion of the wiperblade is pivoted to the leading end portion of the wiper arm via a pivotsubstantially orthogonal to an arm length direction so as to freelyoscillate, and the wiper blade wipes the window surface following thereciprocal and reverse oscillation of the wiper arm in correspondence tothe normal and reverse rotation of the wiper shaft. In this wiperapparatus, for example, in the case that a long wiper blade wipes thewindow surface for a large-size wiper apparatus, or in the case that arange of the reciprocal and reverse oscillation is made wide, or thelike, there is a case that a terminal end side, corresponding to aportion in the side of the wiper shaft of the wiper blade, tends to belate in a wiping speed in comparison with the leading end side, wherebya following property of the wiper arm is deteriorated.

Then, it is proposed to support the terminal end side of the wiper bladeby a supporting member, provided in the wiper arm, so as to increase thefollowing property of the wiper arm, for example, there is a structuredescribed in Japanese National Stage Patent Publication 2001-501893 ofWO 99/05009. The supporting member in this structure is fixed to thewiper arm, and is structured so as to support the wiper blade at oneside in the oscillating direction of the wiper arm. In this case, inrecent years, the window surface tends to be formed in a curved shape,and the wiper blade oscillates in a direction of the window surface (adirection of moving close to or apart from the window surface) aroundthe pivot corresponding to a supporting point with respect to the wiperarm. Accordingly, in this wiper apparatus, the structure is made suchthat a supporting concave portion, constituting the supporting memberand formed in a concave groove shape, is provided in one side of thewiper arm, a support receiving body is integrally provided in the sideof the wiper blade, and the support receiving body is slidably inwardfitted into the supporting concave portion, thereby allowing the wiperblade to oscillate in the window surface direction.

In this case, the conventional supporting member mentioned above isstructured such that the support receiving body oscillates in the windowsurface direction within the supporting concave portion, however, thesupporting concave portion and the support receiving body are in asurface-to-surface contact state with each other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As a result of the structure of the wiper blade in the related art, whenthe wiper blade oscillates in the window surface direction, as thesupport receiving body slides within the supporting concave portion in asurface-to-surface contact manner, a sliding resistance is generatedbetween the support receiving body and the supporting concave portion,and there is a risk that a smooth oscillation of the wiper blade isdeteriorated, which is problematic. Further, in this wiper apparatus,because each of the wiper arm fixing portion, the supporting concaveportion and the support receiving body is structured as one unit in aconnected state, there are problems that the wiper apparatus isdeteriorated in design due to an exposure of the supporting member. Inaddition, a structure of the supporting member becomes complex and largesized. Thus, these are problems to be solved by the invention.

The invention is made by taking the matters mentioned above intoconsideration and to solve the problems. According to an exemplaryembodiment, there is provided a wiper apparatus in which a wiper blademounted to a leading end portion of a wiper arm wipes a window surfacein correspondence to a normal and reverse rotation of a wiper shaftintegrally mounted to a base end portion of the wiper arm, wherein amiddle portion of the wiper blade is pivotably supported by the leadingend portion of the wiper arm via a pivot substantially orthogonal to anarm length direction so as to freely oscillate and a supporting memberprovided in the wiper arm supports movably the portion of the wiperblade nearer to the wiper shaft side than the middle portion of thewiper blade in a window surface direction, the supporting membercomprising a supporting concave portion formed in the supporting memberso as to support the wiper blade and a plurality of ribs elongated inthe window surface direction formed on an inner surface of thesupporting concave portion so as to be in linear contact with the wiperblade.

In accordance with the structure mentioned above, because the movementof the wiper blade with respect to the supporting member is performed ina linear contact state, whereby a sliding resistance is reduced, asmooth wiping operation can be performed, and it is possible to increasea durability.

In this structure, the supporting member can be structured such that anupper piece portion constituting the supporting concave portion is fixedto the wiper arm.

Further, in this structure, the wiper arm can be structured such that abase end portion of an arm piece in which the wiper blade is mounted toa leading end portion thereof is fixed to a leading end portion of anarm shank formed in a substantially C shape in a cross section in such amanner as to be inward fitted, and the supporting member is fixed to thebase end portion of the arm piece via a bolt screwed from an inside ofthe supporting concave portion, and is fixed to the leading end portionof the arm shank together with the arm piece. Accordingly, almost awhole of the supporting member, including the screwed portion using thebolt, is covered by the wiper arm, and it is possible to obtain astructure excellent in design.

In this structure, the wiper apparatus can be structured such that apositioning means for fitting the arm piece in a positioning manner isformed in an assembling portion of the supporting member with the armpiece. In this manner, it is possible to improve assembling accuracy ofthe supporting member.

Furthermore, in this structure, the positioning means can be constitutedby a pair of protruding pieces faced to an arm length direction of thewiper arm and a protruding piece orthogonal to the arm length directionand against which a base end edge of the arm piece is struck, and isused also as anti-vibration means for preventing a stabilizer fromvibrating with respect to the arm piece. In this way, the structure canbe made such as to be provided with the functions of positioning and ofvibration preventing. Accordingly, it is possible to use the membercommonly.

Moreover, in this structure, the supporting member can be structured soas to support a blade lever constituting the wiper blade, and a supportreceiving body inward fitted to the supporting concave portion of thesupporting member is provided in a supporting portion of the blade leverin a manner to prevent coming-off.

In addition, in this structure, the supporting portion of the bladelever, by the supporting member, is disposed near a pivot portionpivoting a first lever connected to the wiper arm and a second lever,and at least one rib in the supporting concave portion is structured soas to oppose to a pin fastened to the pivot portion.

In this structure, a through hole allowing both end portions of a pinpivoting the first lever and the second lever to protrude and to exposeto the outside is opened in the support receiving body.

Further, in this structure, the support receiving body can be structuredsuch that the support receiving body is open on the window surface sideto be formed in a substantially C cross sectional shape, and the supportreceiving body is provided with a fitting and attaching portion fittingto the pivot portion pivoting the first lever and the second lever. Anextension portion is extended from the fitting and attaching portion soas to be interfered with the second lever and regulating a movement ofthe second lever in a wiping direction. In this way, it is possible toincrease a following property of the wiper blade with respect to thewiper arm via the stabilizer in a stable state with no play.

Furthermore, in this structure, the fitting and attaching portion of thesupport receiving body is formed thinner than the extension portion, andthe structure can be made such that the fitting to the first lever isachieved by an elastic deformation of the fitting and attaching portion.This makes it possible to simply and easily perform the mountingoperation of the support receiving body.

Moreover, the structure can be made such that a first step portionengaging with the first lever in the window surface direction, so as toachieve a come-off prevention, and a second step portion engaging withthe first lever in the lever length direction, so as to achieve acome-off prevention, are formed in the fitting and attaching portion ofthe support receiving body. In this manner, it is possible to fix thesupport receiving body to the wiper blade in a manner to preventcoming-off.

In addition, the second step portion can be formed so as to bepositioned at both end portions of the first step portion in the leverlength direction.

Further, at least one second step portion can be continuously formed inthe first step portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with reference to the drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a wiper apparatus;

FIG. 2A is a front elevational view of a part of a wiper arm;

FIG. 2B is a side elevational view of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a side elevational view of a wiper blade;

FIG. 3B is a cross sectional view along a line 3-3 in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4A is a front elevational view of a stabilizer;

FIG. 4B is a side elevational view of the stabilizer;

FIG. 4C is a cross sectional view along a line 4-4 in FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a stabilizer mounting portion in thewiper arm;

FIG. 6A is a cross sectional view which shows a stabilizer mountingstate of the wiper arm;

FIG. 6B is a partly cross sectional view which shows the relationshipbetween the stabilizer and the wiper blade;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the stabilizer;

FIG. 7B is an exploded perspective view which shows an assembling stateof the stabilizer into the arm piece;

FIG. 8A is a side elevational view of a support receiving body;

FIG. 8B is a plan view of the support receiving body;

FIG. 8C is a bottom elevational view of the support receiving body;

FIG. 8D is a cross sectional view along a line 8-8 in FIG. 8A;

FIG. 9A is a front elevational view of the support receiving body;

FIG. 9B is a side elevation cross sectional view of the supportreceiving body;

FIG. 9C is a cross sectional view along a line 9-9 in FIG. 9B;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view which shows a fitting state between afirst lever terminal end portion and the support receiving body;

FIG. 11A is a front elevational view of a second embodiment whichdescribes a mounting state between an arm piece and a stabilizer;

FIG. 11B is a side elevation cross sectional view of the secondembodiment which shows the mounting state of the arm piece and thestabilizer;

FIG. 11C is a front elevational view of a third embodiment whichdescribes a mounting state of an arm piece and a stabilizer; and

FIG. 11D is a side elevation cross sectional view of the thirdembodiment which shows the mounting state of the arm piece and thestabilizer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a wiper arm of a wiperapparatus. A base end portion of the wiper arm 1 is integrally fastenedto a pivot shaft (a wiper shaft) 2 rotatably supported to a vehicle mainbody. Further, the wiper arm 1 reciprocally and reversely oscillates onthe basis of normal and reverse rotation of the pivot shaft 2, whereby awiper blade 3 mounted to a leading end portion of the wiper arm 1performs a wiping operation of a window surface. This basic structure,i.e., the wiper arm 1, wiper shaft 2, and wiper blade 3, as ageneralized description, is the same as the conventional structure.

The wiper arm 1 comprises an arm support 4, a base end portion of whichis integrally mounted to the pivot shaft 2; an arm shank 5, a base endportion of which is supported to a leading end portion of the armsupport 4 via a pin 4 a supported orthogonal to the arm lengthdirection, the arm shank 5 being connected so as to freely swing in thedirections of moving close to or apart from the window surface (a windowsurface direction); and an arm piece 6, a base end portion of which isintegrally connected to the leading end portion of the arm shank 5 so asto be covered by the leading end portion of the arm shank 5. Further, asupporting portion 6 a (FIG. 2(B)), bent in a U shape, is formed in theleading end portion of the arm piece 6, and the structure is such thatthe wiper blade 3 is connected to and supported by the supportingportion 6 a. In addition, the wiper arm 1 is structured such that aspring member 7 is provided between the leading end portion of the armsupport 4 and the base end side of the arm shank 5 via a hook 7 a, sothat the supporting portion 6 a in the leading end of the arm piece 6 isurged toward a window surface.

On the other hand, the wiper blade 3 (best seen in FIG. 3(A)) is formedin a long shape, and is constituted by a blade rubber 8 made of rubber,and a blade lever 9 supporting the blade rubber 8. The blade lever 9 isprovided for supporting a plurality of portions in a longitudinaldirection of the blade rubber 8. In this structure, a first lever 10 ofthe blade lever 9 is provided with a pin 10 a in a middle portion in alongitudinal direction. A clip 10 b for connecting to the wiper arm 1 isswingably pivoted to the pin 10 a. Further, middle portions in alongitudinal direction of one of two second levers 11 are swingablypivoted at each end portion 10 c, 10 d of the first lever 10 via pins 10e. In this structure, a stabilizer 13, described below, is externallyfitted to the first lever terminal end portion 10 d at the wiper shaft 2side, of the two end portions of the first lever 10. Further, middleportions in a longitudinal direction of one of four third levers 12 areswingably pivoted to each end portion of each of the pair of secondlevers 11 via pins 11 a, respectively. In this structure, supportingpiece portions 12 a are integrally formed in each end portion of thethird levers 12 to fixedly support upper end portions disposed at eightpositions in a longitudinal direction of the blade rubber 8 (portions ina side moving part away from the window surface). The wiper blade 3structured in the manner mentioned above is set such that connection tothe wiper arm 1 can be achieved by detachably engaging the clip 10 b ofthe first lever 10 of the blade lever 9 with the arm piece supportingportion 6 a.

The arm shank 5 is provided with an upper piece portion 5 a (FIG. 5)opposed to the window surface and a pair of side piece portions 5 bextending toward the window surface side from both side edge portions(side edge portions of the wiper arm 1 in a swinging direction) of theupper piece portion 5 a, so that the arm shank 5 is formed in asubstantially C cross sectional shape. Further, the base end portion ofthe arm piece 6 is fixed along an inner surface in the side of theleading end of the arm shank upper piece portion 5 a, and is structuredto be covered with the upper piece portion 5 a. A fixing portion of thearm piece 6 to the arm shank 5 is set so as to be opposite to the firstlever terminal end portion 10 d of the wiper blade 3, and the stabilizer13, described below (corresponding to the supporting member according tothe invention), is fixed to the first lever terminal end portion 10 d.

The stabilizer 13 is provided with an upper piece portion 13 a opposingthe window surface and a pair of side piece portions 13 b extendingtoward the window surface side from both side edge portions of the upperpiece portion 13 a. The stabilizer 13 is formed as a supporting concaveportion having a substantially C cross sectional shape. In addition, aprotruding portion 13 c protruding to an upper side from an outerperipheral edge portion except the leading end side is integrally formedin the upper piece portion 13 a of the stabilizer 13, and a mountingconcave portion 13 d is formed on an upper surface of the upper pieceportion 13 a. The protruding piece 13 c is set to have a sizecorresponding to a thickness of the arm piece 6, and the structure ismade such that an upper surface of the arm piece 6 and an upper end edgeportion of the protruding piece 13 c are substantially flush formed at atime of fitting the base end portion of the arm piece 6 into the concaveportion 13 d.

At this time, in the stabilizer 13, the protruding piece 13 c positionedin a base end side of the mounting concave portion 13 d functions as apositioning element. The portion of the protruding piece 13 c formed inan orthogonal state, i.e., an end portion, to the arm length directioncontacts the base end edge portion of the arm piece 6 (FIG. 7(B), sothat it is possible to position the stabilizer 13 in an arm lengthdirection with respect to the arm piece 6. Further, positioning in theoscillating direction is performed by a pair of opposing protrudingpieces 13 c, and at the same time the opposing protruding pieces 13 cfunction as oscillation preventing means (rotation preventing means) ofthe stabilizer with respect to the arm piece 6. In this assembled state,it is set such that the stabilizer 13 and the arm piece 6 are fixed byscrewing a bolt 14 inserted from the inside of the stabilizer 13 into athrough hole 13 e of the stabilizer upper piece portion 13 a and athrough hole 6 b of the base end portion of the arm 6. Note thatreference numeral 13 f denotes a collar provided in the through hole 13e in the stabilizer 13.

Then, the stabilizer 13 is assembled in the wiper arm 1 by fixing thebase end portion of the arm piece 6 having the stabilizer 13 assembledthereto as described above, to the inner surface of the leading endportion in the arm shank upper piece portion 5 a. A slightly protrudingpositioning protruding portion 5 c (FIG. 6(A)) is formed in an innersurface of the arm shank upper piece portion 5 a. On the other hand, abent portion 6 c is formed in the base end portion of the arm piece 6,and the arm piece bent portion 6 c is fixed along the positioningprotruding portion 5 c, so that the arm piece 6 can be positioned in thearm length direction with respect to the arm shank.

A step portion 13 g (FIG. 5) is formed on an outer surface of thestabilizer side piece portion 13 b, and it is set such that the lowerend edge (the leading end edge) of the arm shank side piece portion 5 bcontacts an upper side surface of the step portion 13 g, thereby bothside pieces 13 b of the stabilizer 13 being supported by both sidepieces 5 b of the arm shank. In addition, the structure is such that thestabilizer 13 can be positioned, in the window surface direction, withrespect to the arm shank 5.

In this state, the stabilizer 13 is mounted to the wiper arm 1 in astate of being positioned in the arm length direction and positioned inthe window surface direction. Accordingly, a positional relationship isestablished for the terminal end side of the wiper blade 3, when thewiper blade 3 is connected to the arm piece supporting portion 6 a, thatis, the first lever terminal end portion 10 d is opposite to themounting position of the stabilizer 13, as mentioned above.

On the other hand, reference numeral 15 denotes a support receiving bodyinterposed between the stabilizer 13 at the side of the wiper arm 1 andthe wiper blade 3. The support receiving body 15 is previously fixed tothe first lever terminal end portion 10 d.

The support receiving body 15 is structured such that a fitting andattaching portion P1 is fixed to a pivot portion relatively pivoting afirst lever 10 and a second lever 11 in a come-off prevention manner.The point at which fixed corresponds to the first lever terminal endpotion 10 d of the wiper blade 3. An extension portion P2 extending to aleading end side of the fitting and attaching portion P1 (FIG. 8(A)),that is, to a side of the wiper shaft 2 and opposed to the second lever11, is integrally formed with the fitting and attaching portion P1. Thesupport receiving body 15 is of a size in which it is entirely coveredby the stabilizer 13. Further, the support receiving body 15 is formedin a substantially C cross sectional shape by the upper piece portion 15a, opposite to the window surface, and the pair of side piece portions15 b extending toward the window surface from both the right and leftside edges of the upper piece portion 15 a. The support receiving body15 is structured such that the side piece portion 13 b of the stabilizer13 is fitted to an outer surface, the outer surface of the supportreceiving body 15 formed in a flat plate shape at the outer side of thepair of side piece portions 15 b.

Furthermore, the support receiving body 15 is fitted and attached in anoutwardly fitting state by elastically deforming both side pieceportions 15 b in the corresponding portion to the fitting and attachingportion P1 so as to press onto the first lever terminal end portion 10d, thereby being fixed (FIG. 3(B)). Through holes 15 c are provided inboth side piece portions 15 b in the corresponding portion of thefitting and attaching portion P1 of the support receiving body, so thatend portions protruding to the outside of the pivot pin 10 e,constituting the pivot portion between the first lever terminal endportion 10 d and the second lever 11, is loosely fitted within thethrough holes 15 c. In this case, the support receiving body 15 is setsuch that the outer surfaces of both side piece portions 15 b of thesupport receiving body are substantially at the same positions as thoseof both end portions of the pivot pin 10 e, which can be seen from thethrough holes 15 c, or at slightly retracted positions.

Moreover, an engagement hook (corresponding to a first step portion) 15d, engages the first lever terminal end portion 10 d at the side towardthe window surface. An engagement hook 15 d for preventing the firstlever terminal end portion 10 d from separating from the supportreceiving body 15 is provided at an inner surface of the lower endportion (the window surface side portion) of each of the side pieceportions 15 b so as to protrude toward the inside of the supportreceiving body 15. Further, the support receiving body 15 is providedwith a thick partition step portions (corresponding to the second stepportions) 15 e (FIGS. 8(B) and 9(B) to define a boundary between thefitting and attaching portion P1 and the extension portion P2. Morespecifically, the thick partition step portions 15 e project from theinner surfaces of the side piece portions 15 b that oppose the leadingend surface of the first lever terminal end portion 10 d so as topartition between fitting and attaching portion P1 and extension portionP2 when fitted and fixed to the first lever terminal end portion 10 d.In addition, step portions (also corresponding to the second stepportions) 15 f are formed in an inward protruding manner in each of theopposing portions of the fitting and attaching portion P1 of the sidepiece portions 15 b on the inner surface of the base end side portion tobe in a continuous state with the engagement hook 15 d of that side.Accordingly, in the mounting state described above in which the supportreceiving body 15 is fitted and attached to the first lever terminal endportion 10 d, a window surface side edge portion B 1 (FIG. 10) of arectangular pivot piece portion B formed in the first lever terminal endportion 10 d and the engagement hook 15 d are engaged at the side towardthe window surface. Further, both end edge portions B2, B3 in the leverlength direction, and the partition step portion 15 e and the stepportion 15 f are respectively engaged in the lever length direction,whereby the support receiving body 15 and the first lever terminal endportion 10 d are set such that they are prevented from coming apart inboth the window surface direction and the lever length direction andproper positioning is achieved.

The partition step portion 15 e is formed on the basis of a differencein thickness between the fitting and attaching portion P1 and theextension portion P2, whereby the fitting and attaching portion P1 isformed so as to be thinner than the extension portion P2. Accordingly,it is possible to simply and easily perform the mounting operation offitting and attaching the fitting and attaching portion P1 to theterminal end portion of the first lever 10 d.

Note that reference numeral 15 g denotes a through hole opened in theupper piece portion 15 a in the portion corresponding to the extensionportion P2. The through hole 15 g is formed for the purpose ofpreventing a bolt head 14 a of the bolt 14, inserted from the inside soas to fasten the stabilizer 13 to the arm piece 6, from being interferedwith by the support receiving body 15 when the window surface wipingoperation is performed by the wiper apparatus and the stabilizer 13oscillates toward and away from the window surface.

Further, the opposing distance between the side piece portions 13 b ofthe stabilizer 13 is set to a size which allows the support receivingbody 15 to slidably move in the window surface direction (i.e., towardand away from the window surface). The stabilizer 13 is mounted in astate of fitting over the support receiving body 15 holding the sidepiece portions 15 b of the support receiving body 15 between the innersurfaces of the side piece portions 13 b. A plurality of (four in thecase of the present embodiment) ribs 13 h, which extend toward thewindow surface and protrude to the inside, are formed on the innersurfaces of the side piece portions 13 b of the stabilizer 13 in such amanner as to be arrayed along the arm length direction. When thestabilizer 13 is fitted to the support receiving body 15, leading endportions of the ribs 13 h are set to be elastically brought into contactwith the flat outer surfaces of the side piece portions 15 b of thesupport receiving body. In this mounting state, when the wiper arm 1reciprocally oscillates, the terminal end portion of the wiper blade 3is brought under control in its movement in an oscillating direction bythe side piece portions 13 a of the stabilizer 13. Additionally, withrespect to an oscillation of the wiper blade 3 toward and away from thewindow surface with respect to the wiper arm 1, it is set such that theoscillation is smoothly performed by allowing the leading end portionsof the ribs 13 h to slide along the outer surfaces of side pieces 15 bin the support receiving body. Accordingly, the oscillation of the wiperblade 3 is achieved by the sliding of the leading end portions of theribs 13 h of the side piece portions 13 b of the stabilizer 13 withrespect to the flat surface constituted by the side piece portions 15 bof the support receiving body 15. Thus, the sliding resistance whichoccurs between the stabilizer 13 and the support receiving body 15 isreduced, movement regulation of the wiper blade 3 in the wiping andoscillating directions is not deteriorated, and a followingcharacteristic with respect to the curved surface of the window surfaceis improved.

Moreover, the plurality of ribs 13 h formed in the inner surfaces of theside piece portions 13 b of the stabilizer are formed in a positionalrelationship that the ribs are brought into contact with the outersurfaces of the side piece portions 15 b of the support receiving body15. A second rib 13 h from the leading end side of the wiper arm 1, ofthe ribs 13 h, opposes the pin 10 e (FIG. 6(A)) seen from the throughhole 15 c of the support receiving body 15. The second rib 13 h isformed so as to slightly protrude from the other ribs 13 h. Accordingly,as shown in FIG. 6(B), even when the support receiving body 15 is notprovided in the wiper blade 3, the stabilizer 13 is set such that thesecond rib 13 h is fitted and attached to the pin 10 e in the side ofthe wiper blade 3 in a contact state.

In the exemplary embodiment structured as described above, the wiper arm1 including the arm support 4, the arm shank 5, and the arm piece 6, hasthe stabilizer 13 provided in the connection portion between the armshank 5, corresponding to the leading end portion of the wiper arm 1,and the arm piece 6. Further, a plurality of ribs 13 h are formed on theinner surfaces of the side piece portions 13 b of the stabilizer 13 soas to regulate the movement of the wiper blade 3, and the structure issuch that the protruding end portion of the rib 13 h and the outersurface of the support receiving body 15 in the wiper blade 3 arebrought into contact with each other in a linear contact manner.Accordingly, when the wiper blade 3 oscillates toward and away from thewindow surface along the curved window surface, the support receivingbody 15 of the oscillating wiper blade 3 and the stabilizer 13 fixed tothe wiper arm 1, slide in the linear contact state between the outersurfaces of both side pieces 15 b with the protruding end portions ofthe ribs 13 h. Thus, the wiper blade 3 is allowed to oscillate withlittle sliding resistance although being effectively controlled by theside piece portions 13 b of the stabilizer 13 in both the wiping andoscillating directions. Therefore, the window surface wiping operationperformed by the wiper blade 3 is not deteriorated, and is smoothlyperformed, so that improvement in the durability of the wiper apparatuscan be achieved and it is possible to provide a wiper apparatus having ahigh performance and a high quality.

Furthermore, in the described structure, the stabilizer 13 is supportedsuch that the upper piece portion 13 a and the upper side portions ofthe side piece portions 13 b, providing the C cross sectional shape tosupport the wiper blade 13, are fitted within the concave portionconstituted by the upper piece portion 5 a and the side piece portions 5b of the arm shank 5. Therefore, substantially the entire stabilizer 13is covered with the arm shank 5 when viewed from the outside of thewindow surface. Further, because substantially the entire supportreceiving body 15, at the side of the wiper blade 3, is covered by thestabilizer 13, the portion exposed to the outside is reduced in each ofthe members, and an excellent design structure can be achieved.

In addition, in this structure, because the stabilizer 13 is fixed tothe base end portion of the arm piece 6 via the bolt 14, and the fixedportion is positioned at the portion along the inner surface of theupper piece portion 5 a in the leading end portion of the arm shank 5,the screwed and fixed portion is covered with the arm shank upper pieceportion 5 a. As a result, the fixed portion and, additionally, thesupport receiving body 15 are not exposed to the rain or the like so asto improve a rust proof characteristic or the like, so that it ispossible to increase durability.

In this structure, the stabilizer 13 is mounted and fixed to the baseend portion of the arm piece 6 in a state of fitting the base endportion of the arm piece 6 to the concave portion 13 d formed by theprotruding piece 13 c protruding from the upper piece portion 13 a. Thismount constitutes the positioning means and the vibration preventingmeans. Accordingly, a pair of protruding pieces 13 c above the sidepiece portions 13 b are brought into contact with the side surfaces ofthe arm piece 6, whereby the stabilizer 13 is positioned and preventedfrom oscillating in the wiping and oscillating directions. In addition,the stabilizer 13 is positioned in the arm length direction by theprotruding piece 13 c orthogonal to the arm length direction at the baseend side. Such improves the mounting accuracy of the stabilizer 13. As aresult of the mounting, the stabilizer 13 has no play with respect tothe wiper arm 1, and it is possible to obtain a good followingcharacteristic.

Further, when the arm piece 6, to which the stabilizer 13 is mounted, ismounted to the arm shank 5, the stabilizer 13 is provided so as to befitted to the concave portion having the C cross sectional shape of thearm shank 5, and both of the side piece portions 5 b hold the upperportion all around the longitudinal direction of the stabilizer sidepiece portion 13 b. Accordingly, there is no problem that the stabilizer13 has a play with respect to the arm shank 5. In the case where theoscillating load by the wiper blade 3 is applied, the load can be borneby the entire stabilizer in the longitudinal direction, therebyachieving improvement in durability.

In the structure, the stabilizer 13 is provided in the wiper blade 3 viathe support receiving body 15, whereby the oscillation (sliding) of thestabilizer 13 toward and away from the window surface is carried outbetween the stabilizer and the side piece portions 15 b of the supportreceiving body 15. In this case, because the outer surface of each ofthe side piece portions 15 b is formed in the flat shape, it is possibleto make a relative oscillation with respect to the ribs 13 h of thestabilizer 13 smooth and small in sliding resistance. Further, in thisstructure, the support receiving body 15 is structured such that theextension portion P2 is formed to extend from the fitting and attachingportion P1 which is attached to the first lever terminal end portion 10d. The extension portion P2 faces the second lever 11, pivoted to thefirst lever 10, at the side of the wiper shaft 2, which allows theextension portion P2 to regulate the movements of the second lever 11 inthe oscillating direction. Therefore, the following characteristic, orperformance, of the wiper blade 3 via the stabilizer 13 with respect tothe wiper arm can be further improved.

In addition, because the support receiving body 15 is structured suchthat the fitting and attaching portion P1, formed in a thin shape, isattached to the first lever terminal end portion 10 d by elasticdeformation, the mounting operation to the first lever 10 d is simplyand easily performed.

Also, the support receiving body 15 is formed to have a different outershape between the fitting and attaching portion P1 opposing to the sideof the first lever 10 and the extension portion P2 opposing to the sideof the second lever 12, and asymmetrical in the lever length direction.Therefore, it is possible to reduce the trouble that the supportreceiving body 15 is mounted to the wiper blade 3 in a wrong direction,and an improvement of an assembling characteristic can be achieved.

Further, in the side piece portions 15 a of the support receiving body15, the engagement hook 15 d engages with the window surface side edgeportion B1 of the rectangular pivot piece portion B formed in the firstlever terminal end portion 10 d. The partition step portion 15 e and thestep portion 15 f respectively engage with both end edge portions B2, B3in the lever length direction, whereby prevention of coming-off orseparation of the two pieces is achieved in both directions, the windowsurface direction and the arm length direction. As a result, the supportreceiving body 15 is securely fixed to the first lever terminal endportion 10 d, and it is possible to avoid problems such as the dropoutor the like.

It goes without saying that the invention is not limited to theexemplary embodiment described above, and the positioning means and thevibration preventing means between the stabilizer and the wiper arm maybe structured as follows.

That is, in a structure in accordance with a second embodiment, shown inFIGS. 11(A) and 11 (B), a through hole 16 a for fixing a stabilizer 17to a base end side is opened in a portion of an arm piece 16corresponding to a stabilizer 17 mounting portion. Another through hole(a second through hole)16 b is opened so as to be positioned in moreleading end side than the through hole 16 a. On the other hand, aprotruding portion 17 b protruding toward an upper side from an uppersurface of an upper piece portion 17 a is integrally formed in thestabilizer 17. Further, the structure is such that a positioning and anoscillation prevention of the stabilizer 17 with respect to the armpiece 16 are carried out by fitting the protruding portion 17 b into thearm piece second through hole 16 b.

In a variation, in a structure in accordance with a third embodiment,shown in FIGS. 11(C) and 11(D), a through hole 18 a in an arm piece 18,for fixing a stabilizer 19 to a base end side, is opened in a portioncorresponding to a stabilizer 19 mounting portion. A protruding portion18 b protruding downwardly is formed so as to be positioned at a moreleading end side than the through hole 18 a. On the other hand, athrough hole 19 b is opened in an upper piece portion 19 a in thestabilizer 19, whereby the structure is made such that a positioning andan oscillation prevention of the stabilizer 19 with respect to the armpiece 18 are carried out by fitting the protruding portion 18 b at thearm piece 18 side into the through hole 19 b at the stabilizer 19 side.

As mentioned above, the arm piece and the stabilizer can provide themutually positioning and oscillation preventing means by forming theengagement portions which are engaged with each other in a state ofbeing displaced with respect to the screwing portion for fixing the armpiece and the stabilizer, and it is possible to make the followingcharacteristic between the wiper arm and the wiper blade more excellentby providing the means.

The invention is useful in the field of the blade supporting apparatusin the wiper apparatus which is equipped in a vehicle, such as theprivate car, the truck, the bus or the like, so that a smooth wipingoperation can be performed and the durability of the wiper apparatus isincreased; the design characteristic is intended to be excellent; it isintended to improve the assembling accuracy of the supporting member; itis intended to commonly use the members; and it is intended to increasethe following characteristic of the wiper blade via the stabilizer withrespect to the wiper arm in a stable state having no play.

1. A blade supporting apparatus in a wiper apparatus in which a wiperblade mounted to a leading end portion of a wiper arm wipes a windowsurface in correspondence to a normal and reverse rotation of a wipershaft integrally mounted to a base end portion of the wiper arm, amiddle portion of the wiper blade pivotably supported by the leading endportion of the wiper arm via a pivot substantially orthogonal to an armlength direction so as to freely oscillate, the blade supportingapparatus comprising a supporting member provided in the wiper arm tomovably support, toward and away from the window surface, the portion ofthe wiper blade nearer to the wiper shaft side than the middle portionof the wiper blade, the supporting member having a supporting concaveportion formed in the supporting member so as to receive and support thewiper blade and a plurality of ribs extending toward the window surfaceformed on an inner surface of the supporting concave portion so as to bein linear contact with the wiper blade.
 2. The blade supportingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upper piece portion providingthe supporting concave portion of the supporting member is fixed to thewiper arm.
 3. The blade supporting apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the wiper arm is structured such that a base end portion of anarm piece, to which the wiper blade is mounted at a leading end portionthereof, is fixedly fitted into a leading end portion of an arm shankformed in a substantially C shape in a cross section, an open side ofwhich faces the window surface, and the supporting member is fixed tothe base end portion of the arm piece via a bolt screwed from an insideof the supporting concave portion, and is fixed to the leading endportion of the arm shank together with the arm piece.
 4. The bladesupporting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein positioning means forfitting the arm piece in a positioning manner is formed in an assemblingportion of the supporting member with the arm piece.
 5. The bladesupporting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the positioning meanscomprises a pair of protruding pieces extending in the arm lengthdirection of the wiper arm and a protruding piece orthogonal to the armlength direction, a base end of the arm piece contacting the orthogonalprotruding piece for positioning, and also acts as anti-vibration meansfor preventing the supporting member from vibrating with respect to thearm piece.
 6. The blade supporting apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the supporting member supports a blade lever constituting thewiper blade, and a support receiving body insertedly fitted to thesupporting concave portion of the supporting member is provided in asupporting portion of the blade lever in a come-off preventing manner.7. The blade supporting apparatus in a wiper apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the supporting portion of the blade lever is disposednear a pivot portion pivoting a first lever connected to the wiper armand a second lever, and at least one rib in the supporting concaveportion of the supporting member opposes to a pin fastened to the pivotportion.
 8. The blade supporting apparatus according to claim 7, whereina through hole allowing both end portions of a pin between the firstlever and the second lever to protrude and be exposed to the outside isopened in the support receiving body.
 9. The blade supporting apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the support receiving body is open towardthe window surface and is formed in a substantially C cross sectionalshape, and the support receiving body is provided with a fitting andattaching portion fitting to the pivot portion pivoting the first leverand the second lever, and an extension portion extended from the fittingand attaching portion to regulate a movement of the second lever in awiping direction.
 10. The blade supporting apparatus in a wiperapparatus according to claim 9, wherein the fitting and attachingportion of the support receiving body is thinner than the extensionportion, and the fitting to the first lever is achieved by an elasticdeformation of the fitting and attaching portion.
 11. The bladesupporting apparatus in a wiper apparatus according to claim 10, whereina first step portion engaging with the first lever at the window surfaceside to achieve a come-off prevention and a second step portion engagingwith the first lever in the lever length direction to achieve a come-offprevention in the lever length direction are formed in the fitting andattaching portion of the support receiving body.
 12. The bladesupporting apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the second stepportion is formed so as to be positioned at both end portions of thefirst step portion in the lever length direction.
 13. The bladesupporting apparatus in a wiper apparatus according to claim 12, whereinat least one second step portion is continuously formed with the firststep portion.
 14. The blade supporting apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the wiper arm is structured such that a base end portion of anarm piece, to which the wiper blade is mounted at a leading end portionthereof, is fixedly fitted into a leading end portion of an arm shankformed in a substantially C shape in a cross section, an open side ofwhich faces the window surface, and the supporting member is fixed tothe base end portion of the arm piece via a bolt screwed from an insideof the supporting concave portion, and is fixed to the leading endportion of the arm shank together with the arm piece.
 15. A bladesupporting mechanism for a wiper apparatus for a window surface, thewiper apparatus having a wiper arm connected at one end to anoscillation shaft and having a wiper blade connected at the other end,the wiper blade having a wiping blade mounted to a lever arm assemblyhaving a plurality of levers including at least a main lever and asecondary lever pivotally mounted to each end of the main lever, themain lever pivotably mounted to the other end of the arm shaft, the armshaft made up of at least an arm piece at the other end and an armportion connected to the oscillation shaft, the blade supportingmechanism comprising: a support receiving body mounted at a pivotalconnection of the main lever to a secondary lever closest to theoscillation shaft; and a stabilizer mounted in the arm portion to opposeand receive the support receiving body, wherein a plurality of ribs areformed on a one of inner side surfaces of the stabilizer and outer sidesurfaces of the support receiving body, the ribs extending in adirection toward and away from the window surface.
 16. The bladesupporting mechanism according to claim 15, wherein the supportreceiving body has an upside down U-shaped cross-section, and comprisesa fitting and attaching portion and an extension portion.
 17. The bladesupporting mechanism according to claim 16, wherein the main lever hasan expanded end portion at the pivotal mount with the second lever andthe fitting and attaching portion has a complementary fitting portionwithin inner sides to receive and retain the expanded end portion whenthe support receiving body is mounted to the pivotal mount of the mainlever and the secondary lever at an end closest to the oscillationshaft.
 18. The blade supporting mechanism according to claim 17, whereinthe stabilizer has an upside down U-shaped cross section, the closedbase mounted in the arm portion and having a channel therein which isclosed by the arm portion, an end of the arm shaft received in thechannel and fixed therein.
 19. The blade supporting mechanism accordingto claim 18, wherein the closed end of the support receiving body isreceived in an open end of the stabilizer in a manner such that innerside surfaces of the stabilizer are in slideable contact with outer sidesurfaces of the support receiving body.
 20. The blade supportingmechanism according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of ribs areformed on the inner side surfaces of the stabilizer and one rib opposesthe pivotal connection of the main lever and the secondary lever closestto the oscillation shaft.